Every fall the school performs a spectacular musical.  Each year the productions seem to grow larger and grander.  But this year they will perform the impossible: The Wizard of Oz, one of the world’s best known stage classics.  Follow me each week as I take you behind the curtain and into the wonderful fantasy world of the school’s biggest production yet.

Week two

The second week of rehearsals is where the true fun begins.  Actors begin to learn dance numbers and staging for specific scenes.  

Staging scenes and reading the script can help the actors further develop and understand their character.  Monday, Sept. 12 marked the first dance rehearsal; experienced and non-experienced dancers alike had to come together for two and a half hours to learn the excruciating “Jitterbug” dance number.  By the end of practice, many of the actors were exhausted.  Learning the dance is the first of many steps.  You then have to learn the words to the song, and oh, you can’t forget to act.
On Tuesday, Sept. 13 there was another dance practice, but this time it was for the “Winkie Warriors.”  Fourteen boys were chosen to portray the Winkies and perform the dance routine.  The dance involves many different steps and changes in pace.  

“The Winkie dance was hard and made my legs hurt.” senior Ryan Wright said.  “The part where we use our knees was tough.”  

After spears are handed out, the Winkies perform a choreographed march, which is confusing to the eye.  After enough practice, the actors can get it down and amaze the audience.
Wednesday, Sept. 14 was blocking “If I Only Had a Brain” with the Scarecrow, Dorothy, and the singing Crows.  Blocking a scene is when the director works with the actors to stage the action.  Senior Josh Duden and junior Alec Santaularia both share the role of the Scarecrow.  Every main character expect for the Wizard of Oz was cast with two different people.  In order to learn the scenes, the actors have to perform the scenes multiple times in order to get the blocking crammed into their memory.  But because of the double actors, this means they have to act out the scenes twice as much.

 Differences in the stage version from the movie are evident.  In the stage version, “If I Only Had a Brain” has singing crows and an extra verse, which is absent from the film.

Thursday, Sept. 15 was the blocking of the first scene of the musical.  It was a tireless night, and everyone was antsy getting ready to block their scenes.  We completed the first four scenes of act one :  The Farm, “Over the Rainbow,” Miss Gultch’s arrival, and Professor Marvel.  Most of the leads were called to rehearsal, and the scenes were repeated to give every double actor a chance to act.  Thursday was the first day we got to meet the dog, Sadie, who plays Toto in the production.  Everyone thought the dog was really cute.

Rehearsals aren’t held on Friday evenings due to school activities; however, the weekend doesn’t start there.  On Saturdays, set work commences in the little theatre early in the morning and goes on into late afternoon.  It takes the work of at least twenty devoted students to make progress during work.  Every Saturday for six more weeks the process will continue, until all of the trailers are finished.

This week was exciting and it looks like it’s going to be a promising show.  Show information will be coming soon.  See drama teacher Jon Copeland’s drama page for updates and in the meantime, keep checking back every Friday for updates from the Oz Blog.